Chris Hughton was thrilled to see LuaLua being rewarded for his excellent form, and added, “He thoroughly deserves it, he’s had a wonderful start.

“There were really good signs of it during pre-season and he came back in good shape.

“He’s grown in confidence, and the area where he has excelled in his game is where he has got on the ball and provided an end product.

“He has been exceptional in our first few games and he has a responsibility to keep that going and work on the aspects of his game that can help him improve, but the team have also played a great part in that and delivered for him.”